Page 12 - Bentley Mark VI & R-Type

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ON WATSON FINE BO
CHASSIS NUMBER PLATES
DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
The Bentley Mark VI and R-Type maker’s plate, bearing the chassis number,
was of distinctive design and affixed to what was known as the dashboard
in the early days of motoring, which was the engine compartment rear
bulkhead, or firewall in today’s terminology.
The cast Rolls-Royce chassis plate fitted to Silver Dawns carried the words
‘Rolls-Royce Ltd London, Derby & Crewe’ below a pair of ‘lions passant’
of angular, art deco appearance.
In all cases, the chassis number was also stamped on the top of the chassis
frame near the starter motor and in the equivalent position on the opposite
side. Some export cars had a ‘Made in England’ plate affixed just below the
chassis plate.
CHASSIS FRAMES
The early post-war chassis frame had deep channel section side rails
braced by a heavy, closed cross member at the front and cruciform bracing
in the centre of the chassis. It was mainly of riveted construction, with
some welding. In mid-1953, soon after the introduction of the R-Type and
‘long boot’ Silver Dawn chassis, a fully-welded frame was introduced into
production. The first chassis numbers for the welded frame were B349TO
and SNF1 respectively.
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
UPPER: B29MB, delivered in
Melbourne in December 1951, shows
the twin Lucas SFT-700 fog-lights
which some two years previously had
replaced the centre-lamp on cars for
export to Australia and some other
countries, as well as the Wilmot
Breeden heavy-export bumpers and
overriders with which export cars had
been fitted for nearly as long.
CARBURETTERS AND AIR FILTERS
The earliest Bentley Mark VIs were fitted with a pair of S.U. type H.4 11⁄2-
inch bore sidedraught carburetters, finished in traditional Rolls-Royce
black stove enamel. From chassis B83HP, 13⁄4-inch S.U. carburetters of type
H.6 brought a modest increase in power. In each case mixture control for
cold-starting was manual, by means of a lever on the steering wheel centre
quadrant.
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© DALTON WATSON FINE BOO
The standard chassis number plate as
fitted to Bentley models.
The standard post-war ‘London, Derby
& Crewe’ plate as fitted to Rolls-Royce
Silver Dawn cars.
ALTON WATSOBentley Mark VI & R-Type